Draft

2016

Plastics are synthetic organic polymers of hydrocarbons that are modified to suit our purposes and performance via variety of additives, plasticizers, colors etc. These make them more robust, less biodegradable and all the more toxic for human health. With an increase in the usage of plastics, over the counter food stalls and convenience food joints have adopted usage of plastic cutlery, which provide maintenance free service to the consumers. Although inexpensive and easy to use, plastic cutlery are used and discarded in large quantities and often end up fouling the environment. As they leech into the ecosystem, the sea carcinogenic petroleum byproducts enter the food chain adversely affecting the biota. Globally, efforts are being mounted to educate the masses and take preventive measures to curb the deleterious effects of plastic contamination in the environment. Although the characteristics of plastic cutlery are hard to replicate, the requisite therefore is to act responsibly towards the environment and innovate a sustainable alternative to plastic cutlery, which are biodegradable , ecofriendly, inexpensive, sustentative and often times nutritious. Globally, countries are coming up with new and better strategies to decrease the usage of plastic cutlery, cups and food packaging using biodegradable and ecofriendly to decrease the amount of wastes generated, thereby taking steps in reducing global plastic waste influx.

2021

Arnika Association (Czech Republic) is a non-governmental organisation established in 2001. Its mission is to protect the nature and healthy environment for future generations both at home and abroad. Since the beginning Arnika has been working on protection of consumers from chemically hazardous products. Lately, Arnika has been making own research focusing on persistent organic chemicals in products. Arnika serves as a regional hub for Central, Eastern and Western Europe for IPEN. www.arnika.org CHEM Trust is a collaboration between CHEM Trust, a UK registered Charity and CHEM Trust Europe eV, a charity based in Germany. Our overarching aim is to prevent synthetic chemicals from causing long term damage to wildlife or humans. CHEM Trust's particular concerns are endocrine disrupting chemicals, persistent chemicals, the cocktail effect of chemicals and the role of chemical exposures in the early life of wildlife and humans. CHEM Trust engages with scientific, environmental, medical and policy communities to improve the dialogue concerning the role of adverse effects of chemicals in wildlife and humans and to harness a wide coalition to drive improved chemicals policy and regulation. CHEM Trust UK Charity Register Number: 1118182; EU Transparency Register Number: 27053044762-72. chemtrust.org BUND/Friend of the Earth Germany is an association for environmental protection and nature conservation aimed at bringing about sustainable development on a local, regional, national and international level. We are a memberbased association with democratic decision-making structures on all levels, within which elected voluntary officials have the final say on goals, strategies and use of the association's resources. We develop long-term strategies and solutions, set goals aimed at protecting the environment and nature, and demonstrate through the realization of individual projects that sustainability can be put into everyday practice in our society. www.bund.net Danish Consumer Council (Denmark) is an independent consumer organisation created in 1947 which works for the promotion of sustainable and socially responsible consumption. We defend consumer rights and make consumers a power in the market.Through chemical testing and communication to consumers the initiative Danish Consumer Council Think Chemicals specifically helps consumers avoid problematic chemicals when shopping. www.kemi.taenk.dk The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) (Belgium) is the leading not-for-profit organisation addressing how the environment affects human health in the European Union (EU) and beyond. HEAL works to shape laws and policies that promote planetary and human health and protect those most affected by pollution, and raise awareness on the benefits of environmental action for health. HEAL's EU Transparency Register Number: 00723343929-96. www.env-health.org Tegengif -Erase all Toxins(The Netherlands) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Amsterdam. Our aim is a non-toxic living environment. We raise public awareness of consumers' daily exposure to toxic chemicals via appealing research, campaigning and policy influencing. We believe growing awareness will both stimulate the demand for toxin-free products and increase public support for regulations for a toxin-free world. Générations Futures (France) has been campaigning on pesticides related topics in France for over 25 years. It has become the reference specialized NGO in France on this issue. GF has a unique expertise on pesticides and health campaigning in France and a strong track record of reaching out to grassroots organizations and the public, as well as to national and European policy-makers and the media. GF extended its activities to other categories of chemicals with a new campaign named 'Desintox'. Its various activities include surveys, conferences, product testing, legal actions and publication of reports to raise awareness among the public and decision makers. www.generations-futures.fr/ IPEN. Established in 1998, International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) is currently comprised of over 600 Participating Organisations in primarily developing and transition countries. IPEN brings together leading environmental and public health groups around the world to establish and implement safe chemicals policies and practices that protect human health and the environment. IPEN's mission is a toxics-free future for all. www.ipen.org DISCLAIMER Arnika and other contributors to this report gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the European Union, the City of Prague, Global Greengrants Fund, the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation, European Environment and Health Initiative (EEHI), the Tides Foundation and other donors that made the production of this document possible. The expressed views and interpretations herein do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of any of the institutions providing financial support. Responsibility for the content lies entirely with Arnika and the contributing organisations.

Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 2021

Food provides us nutrients and the energy required for growth, reproduction, and maintenance. Energy is required to perform all voluntary and involuntary activities like digestion, respiration, circulation, carrying out professional, household and recreational activities. Despite having rich food diversity, we are using only a few items as our staple food. With the adoption of eastern cooking practices and cookwares, risk of both pre-and post-transitional diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, malnutrition, obesity, etc. has increased significantly. Aluminium toxicity and nutrients breakdown has become a common problem in pressure cooking. To overcome this problem, it is important to shift from the modernized cooking methods to our traditional cooking practices, i.e., use of earthen cookwares, clay pots and some selected metal utensils, e.g., copper, iron, brass, etc. It has been shown that earthen, copper, iron, and soapstone cookwares do not leach toxic trace elements i...

Food and Environment Safety Journal, 2021

In recent years, products resembling the composition and / or appearance of plastic materials have been available on the market, which are actually made of a material containing various fillers and additives, such as melamine-formaldehyde resin, bamboo flour and other substances. They are advertised as natural bamboo, environmentally friendly and safe. The migration of melamine and formaldehyde from melamine-formaldehyde resin to food is possible. Melamine and formaldehyde are authorized substances in the EU for use in food contact materials under Regulation (EU) 10/2011. In 2019, melamine was classified as a possible human carcinogen by the IARC. It is toxic and increases the risk of kidney cancer. In 2012, formaldehyde was classified as carcinogenic to humans by the IARC. It could damage the central nervous system and especially the upper colic of the visual nervous system. The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a migration of melamine and formaldehyde from kids' bamboo dinner sets offered on the Bulgarian market and thus to prove the presence of melamine-formaldehyde resin in their composition. A total of 24 samples-6 bamboo sets, consisting of 4 items-bowls, cups, plates and utensils (fork and spoon) were analyzed. Standardized methods HPLC-UV DD CEN/TS 13130-27:2005 for melamine and spectrophotometric DD CEN/TS 13130-23:2005 for formaldehyde were used. Migration of melamine and formaldehyde from all tested products was found. Melamine migration exceeds the specific migration limit (SML) in 62% of products, and the highest value reaches 2.6 times SML. All results of formaldehyde are within the EU legislation permissible values. The material from which the bamboo products are made must be classified as plastic, as it contains melamineformaldehyde resin. The results also show significant inhomogeneity of the composite material both within a batch and between batches.

Open Access Research Journal of Science and Technology, 2025

Plastic litter pollution in the oceans, the land and freshwater rivers is increasingly emerging as a serious global environmental concern. Conventional plastics are fossil-based, made from non-renewable natural resources. A novel way out of the increasing rate of demand for plastic packaging is to adopt biodegradable plastics. Cannabis sativa (Hemp), sugarcane, cassava, and corn are some of the most popular plants utilized to produce bioplastics. Some biobased polymers are biodegradable. However, not all biobased plastics are biodegradable. It should be understood that similar to petroleum-based plastics, some bio-based plastics cannot be recycled. Consequently, many biodegradable bioplastics end up in landfills, which decompose gradually and produce methane gas. Biodegradable plastic that is commercially available has its own advantages and limitations respectively upon degradation in both freshwater and marine environments. The Indian bio plastics market is still in its early stages, with only a handful of companies currently operating in this segment. India has shown increasing interest in bio-plastics due to growing environmental concerns and a focus on sustainability. In terms of revenue, the biodegradable plastics market in India is likely to grow at a significant CAGR of 12.5% over the forecast period. India's significant agricultural sector provides a rich source of bio-based feed stocks for the production of bioplastics. Crops such as hemp, sugarcane, corn, and other biomass materials are utilized in Bio Plastics manufacture, contributing to the growth of the industry.

Ymer, 2022

The purpose-To determine factors affecting customers' decision to purchase organic tableware, awareness of customers towards organic dinnerware, and the effect of income on customers' attitudes toward organic tableware. The methodology-The study takes a quantitative approach where a total of 150 primary responses are collected using a structured questionnaire. The results are analysed using statistical tools of chi-square tests and Principal Component Analysis. Findings-Tableware includes the dishes we can use to set up our tables to consume food. These include various things like dishes, glassware as well as decorative items. Four factors extracted are availability and attitude, use at hotels and shops, quality, price consideration, and opinion of family and friends. It can be analyzed that there is no impact of income on factors-use of organic tableware at hotels and shops and the quality of organic tableware. However, there is an impact of income on factors-availability, attitude, price consideration, and opinion. Originality-Past studies have focused on various elements of Tableware use. However, studies on organic dinnerware purchasing, awareness, and income's effect on customer attitude are limited.

Cahiers d'histoire de l'aluminium, 2022

This paper focuses on the history of aluminum recycling from the rise in production during World War II to the early twenty-first century, to evaluate claims that aluminum recycling constitutes a circular economy. These claims are based on contemporary high rates of reclamation and recycling and supported by the history of secondary metals recovery, including the rise of public collection systems associated with perceptions of recycling as an environmentally beneficial activity. Building on the work of discard studies scholars such as Samantha MacBride and Josh Lepawsky, this paper discusses the extent to which these claims do and do not represent meaningful efforts to reduce the environmental damage of primary aluminum production. The rise of public collection programs has contributed to the rise of recycling over the past half century, however increased use of the metal’s inclusion in packaging, industrial design, and other applications has expanded, more than tripling global primary production in that time. The paper concludes with discussions of the limits of recycling and strategies that might reduce primary production.

2019

2015

The EU Ecolabel criteria for hand dishwashing detergents are under revision. This revision process will take into account the current market conditions and the EU Ecolabel criteria will aim at addressing the most important environmental impacts of the hand dishwashing detergents in a life cycle perspective. The identification of the main hotspots is carried out in this study by means of an initial extensive literature review and subsequent LCA studies. LCA studies showed that the largest contribution to the environmental impact profile of hand dishwashing detergents is - by far - the use phase, particularly the energy needed to heat the water. For some impact categories, the sourcing of raw materials and the end of life are also important. Based on the normalisation assessment, by far the most important impact categories for hand dishwashing detergents in Europe are natural land transformation and fossil depletion. The study reveals that there are several improvement opportunities s...